Drunken Noodles

One of my favorite things to have delivered on a late Wednesday night is drunken noodles*. I don’t get home until 9pm, but it’s worth it for my awesome yoga class. I leave so relaxed, the last thing I feel like doing is cooking dinner.

Saturday night I had a rare weekend drunken noodle craving, but I couldn’t really justify getting take-out with no yoga excuse. I started to wonder just what is in them that make them so good? We did our research, read lots of recipes, and watched many videos. In the end, we just made up our own recipe and it turned out great. It was so yum, I would totally switch to our version over the take-out, if only I didn’t have to cook it so late on a weeknight.

Drunken Noodles:

Serves 3

8 oz flat rice noodles

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup chopped jalapeno

1 stalk lemongrass, thinly sliced

1/2 lb ground chicken or turkey

2 Tbsp fish sauce

1/4 cup tamari

1 tsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp molasses

Dash of sesame oil

2 small tomatoes cut into wedges

1 small bunch broccoli, chopped

1 onion, cut into rings

2 carrots, julienned

1/4 cup fresh Thai basil leaves (or regular basil)

1 lime, cut into wedges

Boil a pot of salted water, and remove it from the heat. Add the noodles and let them soften for 8-10 minutes (follow noodle package directions). Drain and rinse with cold water.

In a large heavy pan, heat the oil on medium-high. Sauté the garlic, jalapeno and lemongrass for about a minute. Add the chicken or turkey and cook through until done. Transfer the meat to a bowl and set aside.

Mix together the fish sauce, tamari, brown sugar and molasses in a small bowl or cup.

Using the same pan, add a dash of sesame oil and sauté the broccoli, carrots and onion with 2-3 Tbsp of the sauce until they begin to soften and the onions start to become translucent.

Return the meat to the pan along with the noodles, tomatoes, basil and remainder of sauce. Stir for 1 minute until everything is coated with sauce and heated through.

Serve with a squeeze of lime juice.

This is now one of my new favorite things to make. I’d say it’s up in my top 5 dinner recipes. The only change I will make for next time is to leave out the tomatoes. I ended up picking them out because I’m just not used to their flavor with this dish.

* I have no idea why these noodles are called “drunken”. There is no alcohol involved. Maybe whoever invented them was drunk at the time. If so, s/he was one brilliant lush.

Boil a pot of salted water, and remove it from the heat. Add the noodles and let them soften for 8-10 minutes (follow noodle package directions). Drain and rinse with cold water.

In a large heavy pan, heat the oil on medium-high. Sauté the garlic, jalapeno and lemongrass for about a minute. Add the chicken or turkey and cook through until done. Transfer the meat to a bowl and set aside.

Mix together the fish sauce, tamari, brown sugar and molasses in a small bowl or cup.

Using the same pan, add a dash of sesame oil and sauté the broccoli, carrots and onion with 2-3 Tbsp of the sauce until they begin to soften and the onions start to become translucent.

Return the meat to the pan along with the noodles, tomatoes, basil and remainder of sauce. Stir for 1 minute until everything is coated with sauce and heated through.